When Nancy Isime released the trailer for Loving Itohan, her debut as an executive producer, it had already gone through several rounds of editing. Martini Olakunle Akande, the editor behind the final version, tells The Nollywood Reporter (TNR) why getting a romantic comedy trailer right can be more demanding than working on an action film.
Akande, whose editing credits include Gangs of Lagos and Christmas in Lagos, explains that action trailers often have tension, drama and high stakes to draw from. Romantic trailers, however, require more attention to how audiences follow a story.
“You can watch an action film trailer when you’re cooking but for a romcom you need to follow a story. It is more difficult to edit,” he says.
For Loving Itohan, the version released to audiences was the fifth and final draft. Akande says an earlier version had been considered final in June, but executive producer Jade Osiberu contacted him about two months before the trailer’s release to ask whether he was genuinely satisfied with it. He was not, and the team returned to the edit.
“We had to do a complete re-edit. That’s because for romantic trailers, it is a bit more tricky. The same thing I see even with the films. It is harder to edit a romantic film than an action film. Even to write them because people pay more attention when watching them unlike action where a lot of things are forgivable.”
According to Akande, romantic films and their trailers leave less room for moments that lose the audience’s attention. The editor must consider how each scene contributes to the emotional journey and how the different elements work together.
“As you can see in Loving Itohan, every shot I picked, down to the music. I think it is the first time I am using three tracks on a trailer. Those were intentional choices,” he says.
His approach is rooted partly in his own experience as a film lover. Beyond the director or production company attached to a project, he says a trailer is often one of the first things that gets him interested in watching a film. That perspective informs the care he brings to his work.
“Trailer means that much to me as an audience member and that kind of translates into how I approach cutting trailers. I want whoever is watching the trailer to finish and be willing to pay whatever amount to watch the film.”
Akande, who also edited Osiberu’s Brotherhood, says a trailer does not need to reproduce the exact story or sequence of events in the finished film. Its purpose is not to summarise everything that happens, but to give audiences enough of an idea of the story to make them want to watch.
“So, what I tried to do with Loving Itohan was make sure I put all the juice and bits that will make the typical Nigerian interested in seeing the film.”
The Misconception About Film Trailers
For Akande, one of the biggest misconceptions among Nigerian audiences is that a trailer gives away the entire film. He links this perception to what Nigerians commonly call “see finish”, where familiarity with something can diminish the sense of anticipation around it.
“You’ll get those comments even when you get overwhelmingly positive comments. There will be people who will say what a trailer should and shouldn’t do.”
He compares this reaction with how Nigerian audiences engage with Hollywood franchises such as Fast & Furious and Marvel films. Even when viewers have a general idea of what to expect, they may still watch because they want to see how the story and action have been executed.
He also cautions against making trailers too sparse out of fear of revealing too much. Withholding too much information can leave audiences without a clear reason to care about the film.
“If you don’t give the audience something to hold on to, they will not know what they should care about. I don’t agree that a trailer should not suggest what a film is about.”
For Akande, the task is to find the right balance: give audiences enough to understand the film’s appeal while preserving the curiosity that makes them want to see the full story.
